Northland Foundation Awards 22 Quarterly Grants Totaling $687,000, Including St. Louis County

The Northland Foundation published a press release on Feb. 19, 2026 announcing 22 Quarterly Grants for the October–December 2025 cycle totaling $687,000. The foundation’s announcement said the awards “span a range of community needs, from aging services to basic needs and organizational” in language provided with the release.

Quarterly grants from Northland Foundation are generally $10,000and up and are made to nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, Tribal nations, and local governmental entities such as school districts, according to the foundation’s prior materials. The supplied Feb. 19, 2026 release announcing the Oct.–Dec. round did not include a recipient-by-recipient list in the materials provided here; a local summary of earlier rounds noted that the full list of quarterly grant recipients is available on the Northland Foundation’s website.

The Oct.–Dec. total follows recent quarter-to-quarter variation in the foundation’s grantmaking. Northland Foundation awarded 23 quarterly grants totaling $680,000 for the April–June 2025 cycle, according to an Aug. 12, 2025 press release header. For July–September 2025, WDIO reported the foundation awarded $728,750 in grants to 29 organizations to support food and housing security across northeastern Minnesota.

Previous grant rounds illustrate the kinds of projects the foundation funds. April–June 2025 recipients listed in the foundation’s materials included Healthy Alliances Matter for All, Duluth, which received $25,000 “to support a community giving food garden project that enhances food security, cultural healing, and well-being in Duluth”; Volunteers in Education, Virginia, which received $20,000 “to support volunteer tutoring services for students in rural northeast Minnesota”; and Boys and Girls Club of the Northland, Duluth, which received $35,000 “to support programming that provides a safe, supportive, out-of-school environment for school-aged youth in the Hibbing community.” The April–June excerpts also listed Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Nett Lake ($25,000), Friends of the Finland Community, Finland ($30,000), and Smart North, Minneapolis ($50,000) with project fragments describing food security, youth programming, and after-school technology skills for Grand Rapids and Deer River youth.

The foundation has paired those youth and community investments with targeted food and housing support in other rounds. WDIO’s coverage of the July–September 2025 round quoted Michelle Ufford, Vice President of Grantmaking at the foundation: “Food insecurity is a reality in this region. More people are facing empty cupboards and skipping meals. Community-based resources are working hard, and we have focused more funding in that direction, but there is still a great need.” WDIO noted recipients that round included Second Harvest Northland, One Roof Community Housing, American Indian Community Housing Organization, and Union Gospel Mission, and reported that Second Harvest Northland operates 19 mobile food pantries.

Several organizations named in earlier quarter lists are based in or serve communities in St. Louis County, including Duluth-based Healthy Alliances Matter for All and the Boys and Girls Club of the Northland and Virginia-based Volunteers in Education, which received awards in the April–June 2025 cycle. Those awards amount to concrete investments in food security, out-of-school programming, and tutoring in the county’s towns and neighborhoods.

The foundation’s quarterly pattern - $680,000 for Apr.–Jun. 2025, $728,750 for Jul.–Sep. 2025, and $687,000 for Oct.–Dec. 2025 - reflects shifting emphases between out-of-school youth programming and food and housing security as needs evolve. The Feb. 19, 2026 press release announces the Oct.–Dec. cycle total; the foundation’s full Oct.–Dec. recipient list and individual award amounts were not included in the supplied materials and are available through the foundation’s published grant listings.